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Is SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus ETF (ONEY) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value category of the market, the SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus ETF (ONEY - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 12/02/2015.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.

But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

Managed by State Street Global Advisors, ONEY has amassed assets over $796.25 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Russell 1000 Yield Focused Factor Index.

The Russell 1000 Yield Focused Factor Index reflects the performance of a segment of large-capitalization U.S. equity securities demonstrating a combination of core factors high value, high quality, and low size characteristics, with a focus factor comprising high yield characteristics.

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.20%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 2.83%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector - about 19.80% of the portfolio. Consumer Staples and Utilities round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Hp Inc. (HPQ - Free Report) accounts for about 2.23% of total assets, followed by Progressive Corporation (PGR - Free Report) and Kroger Co. (KR - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 13.4% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus ETF has lost about -7.97% so far, and is down about -1.45% over the last 12 months (as of 07/08/2022). ONEY has traded between $88.04 and $104.60 in this past 52-week period.

ONEY has a beta of 1.12 and standard deviation of 28.53% for the trailing three-year period. With about 278 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

SPDR Russell 1000 Yield Focus ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

IShares Russell 1000 Value ETF (IWD - Free Report) tracks Russell 1000 Value Index and the Vanguard Value ETF (VTV - Free Report) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Value Index. IShares Russell 1000 Value ETF has $51.83 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $94.48 billion. IWD has an expense ratio of 0.19% and VTV charges 0.04%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Large Cap Value.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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